The Tabernacle

Do you ever get side-tracked in what you do? Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, but they got side-tracked wandering in the desert on the way to the Promised Land. They ended up building something called the Tabernacle that would remind them that God was always with them each step of the way. It was designed with lots of art and gold so that the Israelites would remember how great God was. Even when they were wandering around in the wilderness, God would be with them, and they would need to take time to contemplate God in their lives.

Many, many years later, the Israelites had their homeland destroyed by a way. The Babylonians invaded and destroyed their country. They had to go far away into a strange land. They remembered that God was with them then just as God was with them in the wilderness. They did not have a Tabernacle here as it was destroyed by the Babylonians. They didn't even have a place to worship. Rebuilding the Temple was just a pipe-dream to them to think about.

Nonetheless, they could stop and remember their God. Leaders like Daniel reminded them that they could continue to worship God while they lived among people who didn't feel the same way. They needn't be side-tracked by all the distractions in Babylon, this strange land. All they needed to do was remember that God guided them in the wilderness.

Do you ever forget God in the midst of your busy days? You can remember God in every step because God has wandered this world before you by creating it. Jesus has trod, trod, and trod upon the clay of this world and redeemed every parcel of our existence. You can't do anything that God hasn't thought of or done before.

All the Israelites had to do was peek into the Tent of Meeting to see the gold Tabernacle full of artful beauty, and they could remember that their God was with them. All we have to do is to look deep in our hearts, and we will find God dwelling there in the Holy Spirit. As the spiritual song goes, "My God is with me, with me wherever I go!"